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That's more than just several layers of paint that cracked. It's the drywall mud. What Ben said will work, assuming there's not too much damage.

You might want to have a drywaller come in and give you an estimate - if you can get one for something that small. There may be more damage than you're thinking. Also, if his bid wasn't very high, you'd save yourself a lot of hassle.

Brent this is gonna be one of those time-consuming "little" projects. As Ben's Plumbing said, if it's just surface cracking you would be ok if you scraped all the loose, cracking paint/drywall & followed his instructions. On the other hand, as Dr. Hicks pointed out, this may be actual damage to the drywall itself and will require a bit more work. From the pic it looks like you will need to cut out the damaged drywall & do a patch. This is very time consuming. Cut out bad, patch with new, tape and mud, let dry, mud again, maybe three coats of mud, sand, remove dust, prime, and then you may be looking at repainting the whole ceiling to make it look right. It's a process........that's why lots of drywall guys don't want to do jobs like this. All the trips to your place add up to a high cost to you and a lot of time wasted for them.

I've done more drywall patches over the years than you can shake a stick at. They are not hard, should only take a day to do if you use Durabond instead of mud. You can paint it the very next day. Cut out the drywall where it is damaged. Make the cutout a square hole to make fitting a new piece in easier. You can cut it to the ceiling joist centers and have wood backer on the other two edges, or just cut a small patch and screw wood backer in around all four edges. Cut a piece of drywall to fit in the hole you have made. Screw the patch to the backer or joists/ backer. Mud and tape with 20 minute Durabond. After the mud sets up, give it another coat or two giving each coat time to set up properly as per directions on bag. All this should only take a few hours. You can wait till the next day to sand this patch, or use a damp sponge right away to smooth out any roughness and feather the edges. Prime it, paint it, you are done. You will likely have to paint the whole ceiling to make it look good as if you just paint the patched area it will stand out like a sore thumb. Good luck,

I've done more drywall patches over the years than you can shake a stick at. They are not hard, should only take a day to do if you use Durabond instead of mud. You can paint it the very next day. Cut out the drywall where it is damaged. Make the cutout a square hole to make fitting a new piece in easier. You can cut it to the ceiling joist centers and have wood backer on the other two edges, or just cut a small patch and screw wood backer in around all four edges. Cut a piece of drywall to fit in the hole you have made. Screw the patch to the backer or joists/ backer. Mud and tape with 20 minute Durabond. After the mud sets up, give it another coat or two giving each coat time to set up properly as per directions on bag. All this should only take a few hours. You can wait till the next day to sand this patch, or use a damp sponge right away to smooth out any roughness and feather the edges. Prime it, paint it, you are done. You will likely have to paint the whole ceiling to make it look good as if you just paint the patched area it will stand out like a sore thumb. Good luck,

Big Stud, yes, this process is easy for someone like yourself who has done it many, many times. Remember, a noob may not even understand the terminology (Durabond, feather the edges, etc.) For someone doing this for the first time it's a pretty involved process. They may not even be fast enough to keep the D-20 from setting up before they are done applying it. Your advice is dead on, but I think this is a relatively difficult job for someone attempting it for the first time.

It sounds like a do-able job, I am just scared of my non-existing mudding skills, which will probably make my ceiling look ridiculous. Might try to hire someone just for that, and do everything else myself.

It sounds like a do-able job, I am just scared of my non-existing mudding skills, which will probably make my ceiling look ridiculous. Might try to hire someone just for that, and do everything else myself.